IN THE PACIFIC. 101 



his services, complained bitterly of the lone- 

 liness of his life, and of his need of more 

 assistance. He had only six men under him, 

 of whom three were sick, one having been 

 lamed by a bull, and of the other three one was 

 the rascal I have already mentioned, whose 

 presence on the island was a constant source of 

 peril to the poor old colonel. He assured us 

 that one or the other must be dead in a day or 

 two, as the fellow had sworn to stab him, and 

 now that his revolver was broken he would be 

 placed at a disadvantage. He begged me to 

 take the man off the island and land him 

 elsewhere. This, of course, I was not prepared 

 to do, but we gladdened his heart by telling 

 him that his pistol should be repaired, and a 

 pair of handcuffs be given him, and we advised 

 him to lose no time in placing his unruly subject 

 hors de combat. After breakfast we sent a 

 party to cut up the meat, preparatory to 

 sending it down to the ship on donkeys. In the 



meantime C returned from an unsuccessful 



hunt after cattle ; he had come across a herd, 



